Dark Souls II: Online
by GreyKnight18
Summary: What happens when virtual reality becomes reality? What happens when the gamer is unable to log out of the game? Dark Souls II: Online follows the story of a lone gamer protagonist as he struggles to combat the hardest game known to gaming history: Dark Soul II; where 'If you die in the game, you die in real life.' *Incorporates Elements From Sword Art Online*
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Dark Souls II

**Greetings everyone! Here is the first chapter of my newest story: Dark Souls II: Online! What happens when virtual reality becomes reality? Do gamers eventually mistake the game for reality or the game as a virtual space? Would anyone wish to abuse the ability of inputting yourself into a game, where gaming becomes just like or perhaps even is reality? Dark Souls II: Online follows the story of a lone gamer as he tackles the worlds hardest game in virtual reality. However, he comes to find out that the game possesses no log-out button... "You die in the game, you die in real life." This story takes certain elements from the popular anime series "Sword Art Online" and incorporates them into the overall structure of the story with some original content on part of the author.**

 **Hopefully everyone who enjoys the show "Sword Art Online" would be interested in reading a fanfiction that incorporates similar themes into this story revolving around the rage-quit video game, "Dark Souls II." Please sit back, relax and enjoy the first chapter!**

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Dark Souls Online: Chapter 1

 _February, 2, 2015_ ; _11:54 p.m._

Joe stared up at the clock in his room, "Only 6 minutes until midnight. Can it go by any faster?" he exclaimed irritably. He laid on his bed with his Microsoft Drivegear placed at the head of it. He pulled it up next to him to check the wires to make sure that everything was connected to his desktop. He wanted to make sure everything went by smoothly when midnight hit.

 _February 2, 2015_ ; _11:58 p.m._

"Guess I'd better get ready…" Taking off his glasses and sitting them off to the side on his nightstand, Joe caught a quick glimpse of a single photograph that incorporated his entire family and included his new fiancé who he had just proposed to not too long ago. Taking the Microsoft Drivegear in his hands, he slipped the visor over his head and rested himself upon the bed, relaxing his muscles. The screen in front of his eyes showed the time.

February 2, 2015 _; 11:59 p.m._

Adrenaline began to pump through Joe's veins as the excitement began to creep over him. It's nearly time. It's been nearly a year since FromSoftware announced their new joint project with Microsoft to create a new game where 'reality and gaming would become one.' Virtual reality was becoming the newest trend within the gaming industry and FromSoftware had the one game to offer the gaming community to give VR a jump start in the right direction.

Clearing his throught, Karn spoke aloud so the Drivegear mic could pick up his voice command. "System, On."

The curved monitor screen above Joe's face darkened as the Microsoft logo appeared and then disappeared in a shattering visual effects display. A series of text appeared:

 _Home_

 _Microsoft Store_

 _Apps_

 _Settings_

 _Quit_

"System… Go to apps." The Drivegear acknowledge the voice command and highlighted the 'apps' text. A new screen appeared showing a list of apps available for use:

 _Apps_

 _Games_

 _Music_

 _TV_

"System…Go to games." The screen changed once again and brought up a series of boxed icons, each with a picture and logo of well-known and very popular games. Ever since the Microsoft Drivegear became a reality, all game studios began to update old Xbox games to become VR compatible. All of the games that Joe use to play by controller, he could now insert himself into the actual game!

However, tonight there was only one game in particular he was intent upon playing. A game that he and several other of his friends spent playing for hours on end. A game that caused him several hours of pain and constant rage quits from dying excessive amounts. Hours of trying to tackle bosses to no avail; hours of farming; and PVP.

Joe checked on the onscreen clock:

 _February 3, 2015;_ _12:00 a.m._

"Let's do this!" he yelled. "System…Launch Dark Souls II!"

In an instant, Joe's vision went dark. He could feel his body; his arms, legs or head wouldn't move at his command. The Drivegear system connected to his brain preventing any nerve signals from being sent out to his limbs. Seconds passed in darkness before a circle loading icon appeared.

A text appeared on screen, _Take this time to acclimate yourself to your virtual body…_

It took Joe a second to realize that the Drivegear had already implant him into a virtual body. Looking down, Joe could see his chest, arms, legs, and feet. He was garbed in his Microsoft Avatar clothes that he had picked out when he played on the Xbox: white tennis shoes, green camo pants, and a plain black shirt.

Taking the first step forward, Joe felt his feet plant onto the ground and took another. And another. And another. Slowly, he got use to his virtual body. He tested out his hands, touching the ground getting use to depth perception. Joe didn't find it too difficult to adjust since Microsoft made all the VR calculations near-perfect to reality.

The progress bar on the loading circle went from 0% to 100% in seconds. His vision went black again for a moment before music came through: a slight piano playing softly in the background. Out from the depths of the darkness, the title finally appeared, "DARK SOULS II." It came to a stop just a foot away from Joe and the words "Press to Play" appeared below the screen.

Reaching out with his hand, Joe pressed the icon. A warning addressed quickly appeared. "If you wish to proceed, please click 'Continue.' If you wish to quit and return to the home screen, please click 'Quit.'"

He clicked on the 'continue' button. The game title disappeared and was replaced by a new text:

 _"You are about to embark on a journey where death and despair are your only companions. Harden your heart and hold on to your soul or else be succumbed to the dark … Welcome to Dark Souls II: Online."_

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 **This first chapter isn't very long and is just an introduction so it's rather slow-paced. More content will come out in the future chapters and will be more faced paced, I promise.**

 **P.S. If you're also interested in reading another fanfiction of mind, check out "Magic is Force" a crossover between Star Wars and the Inheritance Cycle. A lone force-user is teleported into the land of Alagaesia and must assist the Dragon Rider Eragon at stopping King Galbatorix. There romance and lots of action and plenty of suspense! Still currently in the works so there's plenty of more content coming out in the later weeks.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Closing Fear

**Evening guys! Here is the second chapter for Dark Souls II: Online! Hopefully you guys enjoy it! Again this series comes in as second priority whereas my top priority goes to my first story: Magic is Force. So Dark Souls II: Online will only have chapters that have about 2-4 pages of content whereas Magic is Force will contain chapters with about 6-17 pages of content. Feel free to go and check that out if you're interested! Relax and have a wonderful week everyone! Thanks for all of the reviews!**

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Dark Souls Online: Chapter 2

For a great length of time, Joe traversed the darkness of the cave trying to desperately find an exit. The cave was littered with side passages that took him to different areas where it was filled with NPC's. Things Betwixt was the beginning area of Dark Souls II and served as the tutorial grounds for the new players.

Things Betwixt wasn't anything new for Joe though. Before the expansive game update, the tutorial ground was considered child's play for him. The first area could take him barely five minutes to progress through before reaching the exit.

However, that was before the game update as Joe came to realize. In Dark Souls II: Online, Things Betwixt doubled in size and complexity. There were twice the amount of caves and enemies and the surroundings had changed confusing any experienced player's sense of directions.

At first, Joe followed the original path that was needed to take to clear Things Betwixt and reach the second area, Majula; he followed the rocky, windy path through the cavern until he reached the far end. A crevice split the wall down creating a gap large enough for a person to traverse through.

A sense of relief swept through Joe as he finally caught a glimpse at the opening – Majula wasn't that far ahead. As he walked up along the path, glowing messages began to appear on the ground.

 _Nothing new there. Those soapstone messages haven't changed either. What all has FromSoftware altered?_

Joe passed by the soapstones without focusing on the content that each message contained. If he remembered correctly, all the soapstones were placed in the game by the developers and not by actual players. And their messages were actually lies, trying to mislead new players. In the vanilla game, there was no threat to appear at the end of Things Betwixt.

The gap in the wall became bigger as Joe approached it and a faint glow of sunlight could be seen at the end of it. The sense of excitement that was building up in his stomach was growing even more with the thought that soon he will begin tackling the 'Forest of Giants;' the first area of the game.

As he took the first step across the threshold of the gap, a glowing text on the wall caught Joe's attention. Normal soapstones – used to leave messages – glowed orange; however this one was different. The text glowed a bright white with a black shadow underlay. And more importantly, it was placed on a wall. Soapstone messages could only be placed on the ground. _What's this soapstone?_

The message appeared on the wall just a foot inside the gap and its' glow increased in intensity upon his approach. Joe outstretched his hand and interacted with the message. An in-game text box appeared and on it were only two big, bolded words: _"_ _ **DANGER. RUN."**_

A sudden sinking feeling filled the pit in Joe's stomach as he stared at the message. _What the hell is this?_ As the message swirled around in his head, a slight tremor shook the ground. The sound of grinding stone began to pierce the silence of Things Betwixt. The virtual hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and Joe quickly turned back around to the open cavern trying to discover the source of the noise. The environment didn't seem to be changing or altering in any sort of fashion.

The shaking in the ground grew stronger, the vibrations traveling up Joe's body making it difficult to stand up straight. He had to reach out to the wall of the opening to stabilize himself. He looked everywhere he could from his position at the opening of the crack but nothing seemed catch his attention. The tremors in the ground only continued to grow as well as the sound of stone grinding against each other.

Taking a moment to look at the end of the path, the glow of sunlight remained. "What's going on?" Joe cried out loud.

As he continued to gaze at the end of the path, the glow of the sun suddenly began to dim. Progressively, the sunlight began to grow smaller in width and darken; it wasn't long before a horrific thought struck Joe. The sudden realization of what was happening was more than enough to make Joe run at a dead sprint. _The walls! They're closing in – the exit is closing!_

Joe sprinted as fast as he could with his virtual body. The walls lining the path grinded on invisible gears making the walkway smaller with each passing second. Fear gripped at him as he rushed towards the exit wondering if he would make it in time.

At the top left of his vision, Joe glimpsed at his stamina bar and saw that he was falling under three-quarters fall.

HP /=================================/

ST /========================-/

The distance between him and the exit should be enough for his stamina to outlast the ordeal. The fear continued to grow inside him as the light at the end of the exit darkened even more as the walls continued to close in on him. Never before had Joe feel so claustrophobic before in his entire life.

HP /=================================/

ST /============-/

 _Under half!_ Joe stared up at the exit and could see he wasn't far. With as much drive as he could, he pushed his body to its limit. The sudden touch of cold stone along the back of his hands struck horror into Joe. The walls were getting over more closer to flattening him between them.

He soon could feel the walls touch his biceps, and triceps. His legs were struggling to keep up as the walls constricted his movement.

HP /=================================/

ST /========-/

 _I'm not going to make it!_ In a last ditch effort with what stamina he had left Joe threw himself forward towards the exit, flipping himself sideways parallel to the walls to gain more room.

The sense of being weightless took Joe as he sailed through what room he had left. The sunlight was growing brighter as he approached the exit. He could make out the exterior surroundings outside the cave but his focus was drawn back to the blackened walls. Ever they grew closer, closer to extinguishing his existence.

HP /=================================/

ST /==-/

 _It's over…_ In that few seconds of life he had left, all he could do was think of how arrogant he was for thinking that FromSoftware had kept Things Betwixt the same. Joe closed his eyes as he waited for the moment for when his life was be smothered from existence.

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Tokyo Express chapter 1 . Oct 12

Generally I'm not a fan of self-inserts, but thus far this seems not bad. Let's see a little more.

- **I'm not a fan of self-inserts myself honestly. But I'm glad you like the first chapter so far. Hopefully you'll enjoy this second chapter as well.**

Lets Do That Againchapter 1 . Oct 12

Great start. My only discrepancy is the whole "death in gamedeath in real life" thing. One of Dark Souls II gimmicks is that each death takes you one step closer to hollowing. Is that just going to be subverted in favor of SAO' death rules? Cause that's fine. I just think the risk of in game insanity (followed by, say, real life brain death) would fit more with Dark Souls.

- **The concept of "death in game = death in real life" will still play a role in the story as well as the concept of hollowing which will tie back into the whole "** **death in game = death in real life." **** SPOILER ALERT**** Obviously if you die in game you die in real world. In terms of the concept of hollowing, that will be the case where players will gain a debuff where if they do not constantly go out and fight and consume souls from defeating monsters, they will die.**

Guest chapter 1 . Oct 16

Lets hope you dont pull a kirito sue out of this, the anime was already enough but this game? Make sure your character gits gud genuinely and not like that scrub kirito ok, looking forward for the next chapter.

- **Thanks dude! I'll try to match the aspects of the game so it holds true to the idea of Dark Souls!**

Nikon Shadeslayerchapter 1 . Oct 18

Awesome to see a new story in the makes, if its have as good as Magic is Force then its sure to enjoyable. I just hope it doesn't slow down the release of chapters in Magic is Force too much. Hope you enjoy your day.

- **Hey Nikon! Glad to see you came and took a look at my new story :D Hopefully you found it enjoyable. And it should slow down the release of chapters in Magic is Force too much. Especially since I just ended my summer job so I'll gain a lot more free time to work on fanfiction. Thanks for the review Nikon and have a great day yourself! P.S. Magic is Force should have a new chapter out next week hopefully!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Dark Sign

**Evening everyone! It is currently 12:06 a.m. and I just finished the newest installment of Dark Souls Online. Please enjoy the newest chapter and leave a review letting me know your thoughts on the chapter! Rest and relax and have a great day!**

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Dark Souls Online: Chapter 3

The smell of ocean air filled Joe's nostrils and the light breeze brushed his hair. The heat of the sun bathed his body with warmth and the light pierced his closed eyes. He opened them up to see that he was no longer inside Things Betwixt. He now stood on the outskirts of Majula.

Joe laid sprawled out on the dirt just inches away from the closed entrance leading back to the starting area. _I-I made it?_ He slowly brought himself up to his fall height, gazing back at his frightful experience. He just barely managed to cross the threshold and sailed through the air, sliding to safety just before the walls closed shut.

The sensation of adrenaline pumping inside his veins continued for several minutes but his body began to regain a sense of normalcy. The tremors that shook his person slowly began to decrease over time as the 'flight or fight' feeling diminished.

 _Dark Souls has become a lot more treacherous,_ Joe thought to himself. He never thought that FromSoftware would put a trap like that so close to the beginning levels of the game. Aside from the vanilla NPC's and traps, this one was much more dangerous. _I'll have to take more care in making sure not to fall victim to something like that again._

Putting the near-death experience past him, Joe followed the dirt path that lay before him down the side of the hill. As he walked along the dirt path, decayed headstones dotted the landscape; he was passing through Majula's old graveyard. Walking down the path finally brought Joe to a large stone archway that signified the entrance to Majula. Before he passed through it however, the void in between the archway shimmered as if the air was like water. It refracted the rays of the sun leaving dots of light dancing across the ground.

 _What's this now?_

Joe could peer through the archway and see the makeshift outline of decaying buildings and houses. Majula lay just before him but this archway put him in a very difficult position. _This is got to be a trap. Just like in Things Betwixt._

A pile of small pebbles laid alongside the dirt road and quick thinking provided Joe a means to test the supposed 'trap'. Taking one of the small stones in hand, he tossed it at the open space beneath the arch and watched as the stone passed right through leaving a series of ripples in its wake. Nothing appeared to happen; no objects jumping out to surprise anyone who should attempt to pass through. The stone appeared to look normal as well, no burns or discoloration.

 _What should I do?_ Joe thought several theories of what this rippling space was but none seemed to fit. In the end, there was only one thing he could do though to ensure that this was indeed a trap. Extending his arm out, Joe walked within a few inches from the archway and pushed his arm through the empty space. The air rippled as his arm passed through and nothing occurred. He retracted his arm and found it perfectly normal.

With his arm showing no signs of damage, his only option was to walk into the archway. _This is a bad idea…._ Stepping slowly one foot at a time, he passed through the archway, and the air around him shimmered slightly.

As he passed through the portal, the sounds of hundreds of voices broke the empty silence of the land. What lay before Joe's eyes left him in utter shock and disbelief. Hundreds of people littered the landscape of Majula, all different heights, weights, masculine and weak and different genders. _What the heck is going on!?_

"Hey! Noobie!"

A voice rung out close by to Joe and he happened to look off to his right next to archway to see a medium height player. He was garbed in beginner plate armor with a wood shield in his left hand and a short sword hung by his belt. Based upon his armor and weapon setup, Joe could only assume that this player chose either a knight, swordsman, or warrior class. The player walked up next to him and puffed out his chest trying to appear bigger than he normally did – in actually he was just the same height as Joe.

"Noobie, what's your gamertag?" the player said with a cocky attitude.

"Name's Karnart," Joe replied addressing his gamertag. He was getting slightly annoyed at the man's constant use of the word 'noobie'.

"Well Karnart, you new to Dark Souls II?"

Karnart shook his head, "No, I'm not. Played Dark Souls I & II for quite some time."

"Class?"

"I typically like to begin playing as a 'sorcerer' class," Karnart said with a little nervousness to his voice. In Dark Souls, players who rolled as sorcerers and cleric were viewed as cheaters. Sorcerers and clerics used sorceries and miracles as their main weapons of choice and could be used at long distances. Their damage was based upon how high their intellect and faith skills were; once a player got their skills high enough, their spells could deliver devastating damage.

"Hmmm," the player grunted. He gazed Karnart over looking at his setup. Joe wore the standard sorcerer robes with a basic sorcerer staff. He didn't possess an offhand weapon or shield for offense at close range where magic would be useless or a shield to protect him. The swordsman glared at him with a series of looks but remained quiet.

Karnart was becoming nervous at the players constant stare and tried to look away. A question popped to the front of his mind. "Why are there so many people in Majula?" he asked the swordsman hoping to make he would focus on something else other than his face.

The player gazed out towards the town and threw up his arms in the air in irritation. "Who knows? First there's all those changes to Things Betwixt; the closing hallway; and now this! FromSoftware has changed a lot of Dark Souls' core elements and its put all of the players here on edge.

"Those are all players," Karnart pointed out to the masses in surprise.

The player nodded his head, "Yup, all them. And it doesn't stop there."

Karnart stared at the player confused. "What do you mean?"

The player pointed a finger towards the direction of the players, "Majula has gotten larger to accommodate the increase amount of players. Have you not noticed this?"

Karnart took a second to gain a better look at the small village. It turns out the player was speaking the truth. The village and the landscape surrounding it was significantly – exponentially – larger than in the original game. In addition, more buildings were added to the village making it look more like a populated town than a desolate and remote village. "This is definitely not normal."

"You can say that again."

"Why is everyone here in Majula though? Has anyone left and headed to the Forest of Giants?" Karn was suddenly curious to see all the mass of players bunched together in this new and improved version of Majula. He assumed that everyone would be hustling around trying to complete the next area and move on to the next – a race to see who could finish the game first.

"No one can leave the town," the player replied sharply. He pointed back at the archway and then farther down towards the cliffs where another dirt path lead to the next area. "There is some sort of barrier blocking the way. We can't pass through like we did coming in."

"Impossible!" Karnart replied in shock. He quickly turned around towards the archway and rushed towards it. As he met the opening, he suddenly came to a dead stop, his body running into the barrier the player spoke up. The open space reverberated upon his impact but made no indication that it was going to break.

"Told ya, noobie."

"Stop calling me noobie," Karnart quickly retorted as he regained his footing from recoiling back from hitting the barrier.

"I'll call ya noobie all I want," the player replied back with his cocky attitude.

Karnart gazed out towards Majula and to all the players who now inhabited it. _I need to find out what's going on._

He started walked down towards the village, the voice of the player calling out to him, "Oi! Where ya going?"

Karnart paid him no attention, wanting to get away from the guy as quickly as possible. He needed to gain an idea what the players were supposed to do know since they couldn't leave the area.

He passed by a magnitude of players playing as different classes: knights, sorcerers, clerics, and swordsman. He even saw multiple players wearing hardly anything aside from a broken wood shield and a wood club. _Deprived classes… must be the 'die-hards'._ A group of players walked up close to Karnart and he stopped them and asked them what was currently going on. None of the players he asked knew what they were supposed to do. According to some of the players, and later confirmed when Karnart asked others, all exits from Majula were blocked by a magic barrier.

For over an hour, Karnart did nothing but try to gather information about the new Dark Souls game and what their next objective was. Unfortunately, all the players were as clueless as he was. This frightened him and he could tell everyone else was put on edge. Any veteran Dark Souls player knows that to go in an area blind is certain death. Hence why many players wait and conduct research to determine their next course of action.

Karnart took in his surroundings and happened to notice a memorable icon in Majula. At the farthest edge of the town, at its highest point, a set of stairs led up to a small obelisk that overlooked the sea. In the vanilla game, the obelisk possessed a plate at its' base that served as a counter for all the deaths that occurred in the game.

 _I wonder how many deaths have occurred already._

Karnart made his way up the cliff, passing by groups of players who were making their way back from the obelisk. As he approached the stairs, a conversation from a group of players caught his attention.

"I can't believe so many people died already," a player wearing a clerics robes exclaimed.

"It must have been that new trap in Things Betwixt," replied a second player.

"FromSoftware must be sadists for putting such a dirty trap so early in the game," a third player complained.

Karnart passed the group of players just as he was getting ready to ascend the staircase up to the obelisk before he stopped and asked, "Um sorry, but how many players have already died?"

The player in cleric robes looked at Karn and replied, "Over a thousand players."

"Over a thousand?!" Karn shouted. "The game's barely been out for a half hour and there's been over a thousand deaths?"

"Seems like it." The group continued on their way. Karnart couldn't believe the words that just filled his ears. He wanted to see the numbers himself; he took the stairs two steps at a time to help reach the top quicker.

When he reached the top, Karnart located the plate at the base of the obelisk. He approached it and stuck out his arm, interacting with the object. An onscreen text box appeared: _Deaths Worldwide: 1,382._

Wide-eyed, Karnart stared at the number in doubt. _Over one thousand players died already?_ A horrifying thought occurred to him, _How hard has FromSoftware made Dark Souls?_

Karnart was too distracted at looking at the number to notice four individuals come up the stairs with shocked expressions on their faces. "Joe?" one called out his real name.

The sudden hearing of his name made Joe turn around and look back at the four individuals. It took him seconds to recognize the characters and classes. Two of the players looked like the exact same individual as if they were twin with short curly red-hair with broad arms and chests. And both players chose to play as the knight class. The other two players chose to play as a warrior and swordsman. The warrior was bulker in size and muscular than all of them combined. He possessed dark brown hair with an equally brown beard growing around his face. The swordsman on the other hand had long flowing brown hair that came down on his shoulders. He was tall and lanky much like Joe.

"Holy crap!" Karnart cried out in excitement. "Gunter! Lonestar! Lord Ouster! Snap!" The five players came together and shook hands with him and embraced in quick hugs before releasing. "Boy am I glad to see you guys!"

"We were beginning to wonder if we'd even find you in all this fubar," Lord Ouster stated.

"Do you know what's going on, Karn?" Gunter asked.

Karnart shook his head, "No, I don't. Apparently we can't leave Majula, all exits are blocked."

"Yeah, we tried to leave ourselves," stated Lonestar.

"You know what's interesting though?" Snap piped up moving back towards the stairs gazing out towards the town.

"What's that?" Lonestar asked.

"This kind of reminds me of an MMO."

"I could see why you would say that," said Karnart as he came up alongside Snap. "Majula serves as the social hub of the game where all the players meet."

"But that still doesn't make sense," pointed out Lord Ouster. All four of the players turned their heads towards their friend as he continued his pondering. "Dark Souls is supposed to primarily be a solo game. Yeah, I mean you can summon other players to help you out, but nothing like this."

All five players stood at the time of the landing gazing out at Majula and all the players that inhabited it. They all stood in wonder as to what was the reason for such a dramatic change in the games design.

"There's only one thing I can think of that would explain for all this," declared Lonestar.

"And what's that bro," Gunter asked his brother.

"It means that the NPC's will be appearing in larger numbers. We will need more players in parties to overcome them…And if you think even more…"

Karnart new instantly where Lonestar was going. "The bosses will require larger parties to defeat." An eerie silence befell the group. No one made a single noise as the sudden realization struck them.

"Well, fack!" Lord Ouster exclaimed.

Snap produced a forced chuckle, "Th-that uh…. Definitely makes you wonder how hard this game just got."

Gunter surprised everyone by moving into the middle of the group and stretched out his arms and wrapped them around the other four players pulling them together in a huddle. "Hey look at it this way if we die, we die in a blaze of glory, gentlemen!" he spoke with a sense of bravado.

"I sure hope you're right, dude." Karn commented.

As Gunter released the four players from the huddle, the landscape appeared to darken. The shadows on the ground grew in length as the sun began to sink towards the horizon. "That's not normal is it?" Snap said with a slight worry in his voice.

Dusk began to change to twilight and from twilight to night. Darkness had enveloped Majula and the players in the town were all talking about the sudden change in 'day/night' cycles. "What's going on now?" Lonestar asked.

"Maybe it's a new feature for the game?" Lord Ouster spoke.

A blood curly cried broke out from the mass of players in Majula. The scream turned Karnart's blood cold as the scream echoed across the area. All five players turned their attention towards the spot they thought they heard the scream come from. The giant crowd of players in Majula quickly began to panic and withdrew from a giant hole that was placed in the center of the town. Fire began to spew out from the hole and it light up the town in an orange glow.

"That's definitely not normal!" shouted Snap.

"Look!" yelled Lord Ouster. "There's someone in the fire."

Karnart had to focus his eyesight on the column of fire that was rising from the pit. It took his eyes seconds to focus in, but when they did he could see the faint outline of a figure within the flame. "What the hell is that?" he heard Lonestar whisper.

A solid minute passed before a deep, loud booming voice echoed across Majula. "Attention players! I… am Yoshimi Yasuda. CEO of FromSoftware. And I welcome you all to my master piece!"

Karnart, Lonestar, Gunter, Lord Ouster and Snap spared each other a quick confused glance before they returned their focus towards the figure in the fire.

"I would like all players to now open their menu screens and go to your 'log-out' button."

Karnart swiped his hand across his face and brought up his menu screen. His four friends did the same and they all made their way to the settings tab. Looking down the options available, the five players saw there was currently no tab option that stated 'log out.'

"As you are now aware, there is no log out button to disconnect you from the game," replied Yasuda. "This is not a bug or glitch in the programming of the game… This was all intended."

"Intended?!" all five players yelped at the same time.

The mass of players in the town were all scrambling to find the log out tab but to no avail. Their voices began to rise up in panic asking the CEO of FromSoftware why he allowed such a thing.

"You are all now a part of my world. This virtual world is now your home. It is now _your_ reality. You are not allowed to disconnect from the game and no assistance from the outside came bring you out. Once you all put on your Drivegears, you were placed into my world… Dark Souls was my greatest creation… of all the games I created… it was my pride and joy."

"Reality, players, is as real in this game as in the real world. That includes… your deaths." At this point, every single player in Majula fell utterly silent. No one spoke out. "Your death in this game shall result in your death in the real world… There is only one option for you, if you wish to be free of my reality. And that is… to beat Dark Souls."

"Naturally some people here will refuse to fight out of fear of dying. As such, I've placed a special feature in the game to entice you all to play. Look to the top left under your HP/ST bar.

Karnart glanced up at his health and stamina bar and noticed a little box underneath it. The box possessed an icon with an image; the image was that of a dark glowing circle. Karnart knew instantly what the image was: the Dark Sign.

"The Dark Sign," Yasuda continued, "Is a debuff in the game that is constantly in effect. Starting as of this moment, your lives have but one purpose: to feed off the souls of your enemies you kill. In true Dark Souls fashion, every player must consume souls to prevent yourself from becoming 'hollow.' If you do not, the Dark Sign will decay your body, lowering your HP/ST and stats until there is nothing left. When that occurs, your death shall become inevitable."

The heart in Karnart's chest was beating rapidly with every passing moment. _This can't be happening. This can't be real!_

"As proof of what I say is true, look towards the death counter by the obelisk," an arm covered in fire pointed in their direction. "There are currently 1,382 players who have died. And to further cement my statement, check your inventory…"

Doing as he was told, Karn swiped his finger towards his inventory tab and clicked on it. There was nothing there aside from his armor and staff and a random book. He checked the title: _Book of Foresight._

"I present you all a gift. This book will be your means of communication between your fellow players and allow you to glimpse into the outside world."

Karnart clicked on the book and it suddenly materialized out of thin air right before him. The other four next to him did the same their books appeared and fell into their hands. Opening the book, Karn found a tab called ' _Obituaries_ '. He clicked on the tab and the book quickly filled with newspaper reports of deaths across the world. Each death had one key element in common: every person that died wore a Drivegear. Fear quickly gripped and gnawed at Karnart's stomach.

"Their deaths are as real as your lives are in here," replied Yasuda. He went quiet for a moment before continuing, "Players! This is not the Dark Souls you use to know. It will test you. It will break you. It will make you question everything you know about reality. And I look forward to seeing your progress… Welcome, to Dark Souls II: Online!"

The column of fire quickly disappeared with a large explosion causing every player to recoil in fear. Panic quickly began to grip the masses. Chaos reigned over the town of Majula.

Out of the five players that stood upon that cliff, not one of them made a joke or cry out of fear. They all stood frozen in their spots…

"If we die here…" started Snap.

"We die in real life," finished Gunter.

"There's no escape…" spoke Lonestar.

"… Well…" Lord Ouster started to speak but fell quiet. Karnart, Gunter, Lonestar, and Snap all stared at Lord Ouster waiting for him to finish his sentence. "Looks like we got the shaft."


	4. Chapter 4: Light the Bonfire

**Hey what's going on guys! :D Sorry it's been a while since I last wrote a chapter for Dark Souls. Again as I want to point out, it is not my main story and doesn't take up much precedence. Magic is Force is my more important one and has had my undivided attention lately. But I finally decided to quickly write up a chapter in Dark Souls to help bring some attention to this currently short fanfiction. So hopefully you guys enjoy the new chapter! As always, rest and relax!**

 **P.S. The second part to Magic is Force is currently underway. With subbing and other things taking over my life, I'm not sure when I will upload. Maybe towards the first week of March if possible.**

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Dark Souls II: Online Chapter 4

 _What is the cost of your humanity? Is it the weight of all your life deeds and accomplishments? Is it the amount of good and evil that you accumulated in your life? Or perhaps the cost of one's own humanity is the balance between their sanity and their soul? Should sanity become corrupt and brittle, then the soul becomes hollow and withers to dust. And yet, should the soul be deemed weak and begin to crumble, then what happens to ones' sanity?..._

It had nearly been less than an hour when the flaming specter of Yoshimi Tasuda appeared before all the Dark Souls players in Majula – divulging the truth and horrific mechanic of the game. Should you die in the game, you die in the real world. Once his specter had left, everyone in Majula had been thrown into chaos and denial.

Some individuals were so skeptical of the game's creator - believing that everything Tasuda told was a lie - that they threw themselves off the top of the cliff and fell into the dark ocean waters below. Their avatars disappeared as their bodies were turned to ash and carried by the wind farther towards the horizon. Those who watched the spectacle rushed towards Majula's bonfire where all players, who died in the town, respawned. People encroached around the bonfire and waited for the players who died to respawn. To see their avatar's appear out of thin air, right in front of them.

Minutes passed and nothing changed. Players began to worry and left the bonfire to go off into Majula, thinking that the dead players spawned elsewhere. A half hour passed before the search parties returned to report that they couldn't find them. The inevitable truth was finally accepted by all players: death is reality.

When Karn and his group of friends heard about what happened and saw the state of Majula, they knew that the only way to get through the game was to beat it. They made their way down from the obelisk and headed down the cliffside, following a dirt road that lead to a decaying archway: this marked the entrance to the Forest of Giants.

"Woah, hold up guys," Lord Ouster stated before they progress any further. Lonestar, Gunter, Snap and Karn stopped in their tracks.

"What's going dude?" Snap asked with confusion.

"We need to come up with a plan."

"What kind of plan?" asked Lonestar.

"We don't even know what is going to be in the Forest of Giants," Ouster exclaimed.

"Well, we have a basic idea of what we are about to face," mentioned Karn. "We've each played Dark Souls several times through and have a pretty good idea what enemies and traps we will have to tackle."

"Yes, but all of that's changed," Ouster replied. "This is no longer the Dark Souls we no longer know. Everything…" He turned around and pointed to Majula and the hundreds of people that scurried about in the town, "This Dark Souls is different. That includes," he pointed forward to the path, "everything beyond Majula. We need to develop a plan on how to stay alive in this hellhole we've been thrown into."

"So what," began Gunter as he placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, "do we want to do something very similar as if we were in a MMO?"

"I want to say that we are in an MMO," clarified Ouster. "And yes, I think we should."

"Well, I want to say we have already got our _tank_ ," Snap made a reference to Lonestar. Lonestar always played the role of tank in any game that had offered him a chance too. "We've got three _dps_ ," he indicated to Gunter, Ouster and himself. "Which just leaves-"

"Me. The healer," Karn finished Snap's sentence.

"Right, so let's get this formation down…" Ouster said as he knelt down to the dirt path. He took a finger and drew five circles in the dirt, labeling each one with the first initial of each of the party member's name – 'L', 'S', 'O', 'K' and 'G'.

"Here's what I think we should do," Ouster finished completing the drawing where each of the five dots were laid out and connected together to make an 'X'. "We have two of us up front, one in middle and two in back."

"Naturally, Gunter and I will take the front?" Lonestar inquired gazing down at the crude drawing of the formation outline.

"While me and Ouster take the rear?" Snap also asked.

"Yup," Ouster said. "Then that puts Karn smack-dab in the middle of us."

"It's not that bad of a plan," stated Gunter. "Lonestar takes up the front as _tank_ with me as _dps_ assistance. You and Snap play rear guard making sure no add-ons surprise us; and Karn plays as healer."

"I think I will be more effective as a general _support_ player than a healer," stated Karn. "Yes, I can obviously play the role as healer if need be but we all know that I focus more towards the _dps_ aspect with sorceries."

"That's what I wanted you to do anyway," Ouster quickly added. "Karn won't be able to play the role of healer until he gets access to higher AOE miracles. Which if I recall isn't until we get to the cleric over in Heide's Tower. So for the time being, Karn will have to play as a general support member. He will assist either the two in front or the two in back."

"I can do that," exclaimed Karn.

"What happens if this arrangement doesn't work for us," Snap questioned with a hint of worry.

"Then we are SOL," Gunter stated simply with a quick smirk on his face.

"Are we all in an agreement with this plan?" Ouster asked one final time.

They all gave each other split second glances, waiting to see if anyone had any last second thoughts. None of them did.

"Alright then," Ouster said as he raised himself up to his full height. He drew his sword and switched out his unarmed offhand to a small wooden shield. "Let's go ravage ourselves a giant."

The five players quickly transitioned themselves into the formation that Ouster had designed and continued down the dirt path into a passage that was carved into the cliffside. The passage was dark and dreary as old cobblestone arches and braces kept the ceiling aloft, preventing it from collapsing. The dirt path quickly changed to stone tile and the noise of the company's boots echoed off the walls.

It wasn't long before a flight of stairs took the players down deeper into the passage and the continued to traverse the dark narrow corridor for what seemed to be hours. The five friends spared each other casual small talk but remained attentive to their surroundings. After some time, the passage slowly began to grow wider and begin to slope down slightly. It wasn't long before the sound of running water caught all the players' ears. An archway suddenly appeared at the end of the passage and the players cautiously passed through it to find themselves in a large room with running water passing from one floodgate into another.

The players traversed down a short series of steps leading from the archway into the room. At the far end of the corridor, a chain hung lifelessly from unseen hinges. "Well, there's nothing new here," Lonestar made a remark at the front of the group.

"Not yet at least," remarked Karn.

"Once we pull that chain, the door should open allowing us access into the Forest of Giants," stated Ouster.

They walked alongside the canal up to the far floodgate; Lonestar approached the chain and with his armored glove pulled down on the device. The sound of turning gears and grinding mechanisms echoed throughout the entire passage. The floodgate slowly began to rise as counterweights lifted the giant steel door from its resting place. When it was high enough the players rushed through the gate and continued on into another long passage. However, a small light produced at the end of the tunnel; a glimpse that their long endeavor was about to begin.

The five traversed the length of the passage in minutes, the light at the end of the tunnel growing brighter with every second. The stone floor quickly began to show signs of wear and tear as cracks with vegetated growth began to appear. They party stepped out of the passage into the marsh filled forest of Dark Souls' first dungeon.

Karn traversed the marsh-filled landscape of the Forest of Giants, trudging through dirt and mud; his boots and robes becoming drenched and muddy. His body was tensed as adrenaline constantly fueled his body. His eyes were darted in different directions, constantly moving between every tree and bush and hill; at any moment, a NPC could appear and attack him. Perhaps even killing him. He had to stay on alert.

The group continued along a flowing brook that weaved like a slithering snake in the grass. As the minutes rolled by, nothing appeared to cause the company much distress. No NPC's, creatures or traps. To say that Karn felt relieved to not come across any enemies would be the wrong choice of words. He was horribly terrified.

As they made a turn around a bend in the brook, a little recession in the side of the valley appeared. It was a small clearing, about ten meters across and equal that in diameter. Big enough for the five guys to walk into and have breathing room.

"Look!" Gunter shouted out to the guys. He pointed in the direction of the recess.

The guys focused their attention towards the clearing and saw what Gunter was surprised about. Placed in the center of the clearing was an ashen covered campfire with a decrepit sword placed in the middle of it. "Still think that bonfires still work the same as before?" Lonestar asked.

"Why don't we go see," suggested Ouster.

Staying in formation, the five crossed the creek and approached the clearing. Lonestar and Gunter were the first to enter it. Nothing attacked them as they entered in and no traps were set off. Karn trotted in next and again nothing occurred upon his entering into the clearing. "So far so good," he said with a sigh of relief. Ouster and Snap followed up in the rear and all five gathered around the bonfire.

"So what now?" asked Snap.

"Well, I assume if we got up close to the bonfire, we'd be able to light it. Making it become a fast travel for us and allow us to replenish our Estus Flasks," said Ouster.

"Guess we can rule out the possibility of it being our respawn point," Gunter made a snide remark.

"Oh yea, big time," his brother agreed.

"Let's go ahead and light the bonfire," ordered Karn. In unison, the five players raised their arms out towards the bonfire. A split second later, the sound of crackling wood could be heard as the dim embers began to grow brighter and warm. Smoke began to rise from the ashes and small tendrils of flame began to poke through the burnt piles of wood. The flame grew bigger and warmer as the seconds rolled by. It wasn't long before a roaring flame traversed up the length of the sword, making it seem to become more radiant and less decayed. The warmth of the bonfire spread out into the clearing, providing to Karn some sense of relief. The warmth easing the tense muscles that constricted his body.

"That's nice," Lonestar said in a slow whimsical tone. "That's very nice."

"I could just stay here for a while," Karn said with some strain as he stretched out his arms, enjoying the warmth pervade his body.

"All we need now is some chicks and we will be ballin'," Ouster said with a chuckle.

"Oh yes, all the ladies will enjoy this with us!" Snap also exclaimed.

"Who needs hoes when you got bros!" shouted Gunter as he put an arm around Lonestar and Karn.

They all immediately started to laugh hysterically at Gunter's comment. They hadn't laughed since they got into the game. It was nice for some laughter to finally fill air. To Karn, it was a sign to show that even in this crazy world they were forced into, they could still find something to laugh about.

As the laughter of the five friends continued to ripple through the air another noise began to mix along with them. It was a noise not of hope or happiness. A ghastly moan joined in with the boys and it grew in volume. And suddenly multiple moans could be heard joining in with the first. The moaning was filled with sorrow, pain and anguish.

"What the hell is that," questioned Lonestar in alarm.

They turned about and faced the opening of the clearing where it opened up into the valley. And there standing before them were scores of hollowed-soldiers. They stood no less than six feet tall. The armor and chainmail that once protected their bodies were bent and rusted. Some even still had broken arrow shafts visible. Their bodies were decaying and had shriveled up, exposing the outline of their bones. Their eyes were black for in fact they were hallow – no eyes to rest in the sockets of the skull.

They all branded different weapons: shield and sword; bows and arrows, lances or halberds, and even great swords. They slowly crossed the river and up the embankment of the clearing, their movements sluggish. Their moans turned into wails as the cries could soon drown out all other noise in the level.

"Guys!" Gunter shouted. "Get in formation. Ouster up front with me and Lonestar! Snap hang back with Karn." They all rushed into their new positions and stood guard. Ouster and Gunter stood on either side of Lonestar, his shield already positioned in front of his body, ready to take the strike. _Shing_. The sound of multiples were drawn as each of the four swordsmen drew out their weapons. Karn quickly swapped out his hand for his sorcerer's staff and made sure his soul arrow was selected.

The hallowed-soldiers continued their advance. The distance between the two parties dwindled by the second. The players stood their ground, waiting for the order to engage.

The first of the hallowed soldiers was able to gain ground and closed the distance to Lonestar. It brought back its sword preparing to strike. And as it was about to deliver its blow, Lonestar quickly reacted, spinning around on the spot gaining momentum; he swung his shield across catching the oncoming sword, parrying it. With what momentum he had left, Lonestar brought his sword around slashing at the hallowed soldier's chest. The blade cut clean through the decayed flesh, dismembering it at the waist.

"LET'S GO!" cried Ouster. With war cries of their own, the three rushed into the fray, hacking and slashing at the oncoming enemies.

Everything seemed to go quiet for Karn as the fight began. The cries from his friends and the moaning of the hallowed were suddenly muffled. The only thing that stood out was the sound of Karn's heart pumping blood and adrenaline through his veins. The fight for his life and the fate of his friends lay upon the line.

 _God help us…_

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jabbarulez chapter 3 . Nov 9, 2015

Got the shaft? BOHICA more like it!

- **Perhaps lol.**

Dylan Hollywood chapter 3 . Nov 7, 2015

Very damn good. Personaly I would tweek the DS to start when you pop back up in the majula and give the holy effiges to whoever kills the 4 great ones, Vendrick, the old as hell dragon in the shrine and to the Queen of want. Also what Covenants will Jesus-kun and palls join (Guessing the Sentinals).

\- **I'm not sure what Covenants they will join. I could add something in the story that may split the group up, maybe making the story a little more interesting. We'll just have to see :p**

Guest chapter 3 . Nov 18, 2015

Joe wait, Sorcerer class? The easy mode? You casul mate? Lol as always, cant wait for the next chapter.

\- **I always love to play as Sorcerer class lol. And I would say I play the middle ground between casual and hardcore Dark Souls player. Hopefully you enjoy this new chapter, Mr. Guest!**

Nikon Shadeslayerchapter 2 . Dec 22, 2015

Oops, I just realized I forgot to favorite and follow this story, so I didn't get a notification for when it updated. I like the new chapter, the way you showed the health and stamina was very interesting, cant wait for more. Well, I guess I don't have to wait, because i got here late and there's already a new chapter. Have a nice day.

"Looks like we got the shaft" Seems like a great time for a joke, you had me laughing. Anyways, I now have the story favorited and followed so ill know if it gets updated and ill be able to review on time.  
I don't think id be able to get out of that tunnel, I would have tripped and died right at the beginning, ending my adventure. Also, I've had a similar experience to that guy who kept calling Karnart a newbie, some dude did the same thing to me when I first got Halo Reach. I showed him when I doubled his score though. Anyways, have a nice day.

\- **Nikon! :D So glad to see you read my second fanfic! That makes me freaking excited. I'm glad to know that you favorited and followed the story; that will be helpful to you when you get a notification about this new chapter lol. Hopefully you've had a great day Nikon and I hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

 **P.S. Get ready for a new MiF chapter the first week of March lol.**


	5. Author Update - Sept 5, 2017

Greetings Everyone,

It's been some time since I've last have updated any of my stories. To which I apologize with a heavy heart. I let my readers down. You all have been patiently waiting for the new chapters and you have all voiced to me your desire for a new chapter. I heard your voices. And I believe you all should know what's been going on with me and why new chapters haven't been posted.

Life has gotten the worse of me. I took time away from my leisurely activities to work and save up money for my wedding that was going to be taking place on October. I spent more of my nights working on applications for teaching positions; or resting from working 10+ hours what seemed like everyday during the summer. I started preparing for a full-time substitute teaching job - taking over the responsibilities that the normal teacher would do like creating lesson plans, assignments and grading. Then it wasn't until the first week of August that things between me and my fiance hit a turn for the worse and now the engagement has been broken. Which created a heck of a lot of problems needed to be fixed. Things needing cancelled; issues regarding housing needed resolved. Had to move back to my home town so it took some time move things back. Then it was trying to find new employment.

I'm now finally getting my life back in order and I've finally have gotten my priorities straight. I've finally gotten some down time to sit down and right this update for you.

The newest chapter for 'Magic is Force' is currently being written. And I've found a method to help speed the process so I'll try to get it up ASAP. Please be a little more patient.

Thank you all for all your support over the years. You have all been wonderful!

Best wishes!

\- GreyKnight18


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